Father Thomas Rosica C.S.B. - Chief Executive Officer

Father Rosica is well known to Catholics and the media on a worldwide basis, following his exceptional leadership as National Director and Chief Executive Officer of World Youth Day 2002. A Basilian Father and noted Scripture scholar, Father Rosica was ordained a priest in 1986 and brings to Salt and Light Television a rich experience of the Church at the national and international levels, a deep spirituality, and the impressive linguistic ability required to give this Catholic media enterprise vision, direction and perspective.

He holds advanced degrees in theology and Sacred Scripture from Regis College in the University of Toronto, the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and the École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem.

Prior to his work on World Youth Day 2002, he served as Executive Director and Pastor of the Newman Centre Catholic Mission at the University of Toronto. He lectures at the Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto and is a frequent columnist for the Toronto Sun. As of July, 2006, Fr. Rosica is a member of the General Council of the Basilian Fathers.



Reflections:

Toronto Sun columns and
other newspaper articles by Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B.

Texts, lectures and Conferences:

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Links:

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New Ways to Proclaim the Good News
Interview With Father Thomas Rosica

By Karna Swanson

TORONTO, MAY 26, 2008 (Zenit.org) - The Church has a message to deliver, and the challenge of that task today is to do it in a "mediated" world, says one of the hosts of the 2008 International Catholic Media Convention.

Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, who is also the director of Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and Television Network, added that the Church needs to be "there on the scene, using all the means of modern social communications to proclaim the word of God and the message of the Church."

The three-day international Catholic Convention, to be held May 27-30 in Toronto, will be hosted by the Catholic Press Association of North America, the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals and the Association of Roman Catholic Communicators of Canada.

The carefully orchestrated American pilgrimage was replete with a White House royal welcome for his 81st birthday on Wednesday, a major lecture to Catholic university presidents and educators, a private and very moving meeting with victims of clergy sex abuse at the Vatican embassy in Washington, an address to leaders of many faith traditions, and a mega Mass at Washington Nationals Stadium.

Its theme is "Proclaim It From the Rooftops."

In this interview with ZENIT, Father Rosica comments on the future of Catholic media and their relationship with the secular press.

Q: Why the theme "Proclaim It From the Rooftops"?

Father Rosica: We have chosen as the theme of this year's Catholic Media Convention: "Proclaim It From the Rooftops," inspired by the Scriptures -- Matthew 10:27 -- and also by Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter "Rapid Development."

The reality is that the Church must now speak to a highly technological, "mediated" society. John Paul II said that the Church must be present in the new "Areopagai" of the world -- a world replete with so many competing philosophies, ideas and phenomena. The Church has to be there on the scene, using all the means of modern social communications to proclaim the word of God and the message of the Church.

Q: What new developments in Catholic journalism do you want to see highlighted at this conference? Outcomes?

Father Rosica: The 2008 Catholic Media Convention owes its existence to a collaboration that is rare in any part of the publishing world. In fact, collaboration has been a fact of life among Toronto Catholic media for years. Two unique aspects of the Toronto convention are how we can foster good collaboration among all entities of Catholic media and view our work as part of the New Evangelization.

Second is our concern for the future, especially how we can reach out to the next generation and involve young adults in the mission of communications. This week will be an intensive lesson for North American Catholic journalists in building bridges within and outside the Church as we learn to tell our stories, bear witness to the truth and proclaim our message from the rooftops.

Q: The Pope said in his message for this month's World Communications Day "that seeking and presenting the truth about humanity constitutes the highest vocation of social communication." Does this vision of the role of communications mark a fundamental difference between Catholic and secular journalists?

Father Rosica: Catholic communicators and journalists have a special obligation and mission not only to serve the Church, but to teach the world about seeking the truth and serving the truth.

The secular media misses the mark when the truth, goodness and the dignity of the human person is not part of the story. As John Paul II -- himself a media expert and master -- wrote in 2005, in his final '05 apostolic letter titled "The Rapid Development": "Communication both within the Church community and between the Church and the world at large requires openness and a new approach toward facing questions regarding the world of media.

"This communication must tend toward a constructive dialogue, so as to promote a correctly informed and discerning public opinion within the Christian community." Good journalists and communicators must be concerned with truth, goodness, beauty and hope, even in the most dire of circumstances.

Q: What can the Catholic media do to get the message of the Gospel more widely known?

Father Rosica: I have learned some powerful lessons in dealing with the media over the years, especially through the adventure of World Youth Day 2002 in Canada, the suffering and death of John Paul II, and my work with Salt and Light Television and our collaboration with the "secular" media.

It serves no purpose for Church officials, leaders and members to vilify those in the media, to stonewall and not respond to the constant phone calls of this reporter, that producer, some editor. That's the nature of the beast. They don't call it breaking news for nothing.

Nor does it serve any purpose for those in the "secular" media to ignore or marginalize the Church and religious issues, treating them as trivial matters that don't merit serious reflection. We have to learn from each other, and we have much good work to do together to serve the cause of truth and decency in a world that is becoming more devoid of value, virtue and meaning.

Many times in the Church, our stories are non-stories because key elements are missing. In more biblical language, how on earth do we move the light from under the bushel and onto the lamp stand so everyone in the house may see it? How do we learn the difference between old news and the new news with relevance -- a real story worth telling to the world?

High on the agendas of our 2008 convention is the theme of the so-called hostility of "secular" media to religion and the Church. Is the hostility real or perceived? What can be done to build bridges? The convention will help Church media workers to learn to tell our stories to the world cogently, boldly and courageously.

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On the Net:

Catholic Media Convention: www.catholicmediaconvention.org

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The Shadow of Peter Fell on America Last Week
Pope Brought Words of Hope and Healing

By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

TORONTO, APRIL 23, 2008 (Zenit.org) - Last week Benedict XVI made his first visit as Pope to the United States of America, and many were concerned about the impact the German Pontiff would have on a rather beleaguered Church.

They asked if Benedict XVI would be able to "connect" with people as his predecessor Pope John Paul II had done. After all, Benedict XVI arrived in America at age 80 while John Paul II was a mere 59 when he visited for the first time in 1979.

Up until last week many people both within and outside the Church in North America simply didn't know Joseph Ratzinger, and some didn't want to know him. They knew only half-truths about a former Vatican watchdog who was often portrayed as a strict, scholarly bookworm who lacked the charisma and flair of his predecessor on the throne of Peter. Last week something changed significantly in peoples' perception of Benedict XVI.

The carefully orchestrated American pilgrimage was replete with a White House royal welcome for his 81st birthday on Wednesday, a major lecture to Catholic university presidents and educators, a private and very moving meeting with victims of clergy sex abuse at the Vatican embassy in Washington, an address to leaders of many faith traditions, and a mega Mass at Washington Nationals Stadium.

Moving over to the Big Apple for the final leg of the journey, the Pontiff gave a major address to the U.N. General Assembly only to be followed by another major address to the people behind the scenes at the United Nations: secretaries, janitors, interns and the support staff. (Not many political leaders acknowledge the little people who make the big organizations work!)

The German Pope also visited a Manhattan synagogue on the eve of the first day of Passover. He celebrated mass marking the third anniversary of his election as Pope on April 19 in what many consider the symbolic seat of Catholicism in the United States -- New York's St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

"New spring"

During that Mass he issued a rallying cry for the "new spring" in a Church that he said was so divided and wounded in many ways, especially by the clergy sex-abuse scandal. As our Salt and Light cameras covered the event, we saw many priests and religious men and women in tears during that Mass.

At the end of Mass celebrated on the Pope’s third anniversary of election, he spoke personal and unscripted words: "At this moment I can only thank you for your love of the Church and Our Lord, and for the love which you show to the poor Successor of St. Peter. I will try to do all that is possible to be a worthy successor of the great Apostle, who also was a man with faults and sins, but remained in the end the rock for the Church. And so I too, with all my spiritual poverty, can be for this time, in virtue of the Lord's grace, the Successor of Peter."

On Saturday evening the grandfatherly Benedict XVI stunned the world, and even himself, with a grand performance of humanity, compassion, conviction, sheer joy and very stirring words at the youth events at New York's seminary in Yonkers. Prior to entering the World Youth Day atmosphere outside, the Pope met with dozens of disabled children in the seminary chapel -- most of them in wheelchairs. The Pope walked slowly down the aisle, along which the children were lined up. He took each by the hands, or kissed a child on the head. Parents and caregivers nearby wept openly.

At the outdoor rally for nearly 30,000 young people, Benedict XVI made a rare reference to his upbringing in Nazi Germany. "My own years as a teenager were marred by a sinister regime that thought it had all the answers; its influence grew -- infiltrating schools and civic bodies, as well as politics and even religion -- before it was fully recognized for the monster it was," said the Pope, who deserted the German army near the end of World War II.

Throughout the week the Vatican took great care in articulating the Pope's immigration position, stating the need to protect family unity and the human rights of immigrants, but pointedly avoiding any specifics of the American immigration debate, such as the issue of whether to grant legal status to illegal immigrants. For sure, Benedict XVI’s words last week stirred the crosscurrents of the debate at the heart of a presidential election in the United States.

There is the Church

An ancient Latin expression, first used by St. Ambrose in the fourth century, came to my mind last week during several moments of the historic papal visit to the United States: "Ubi Petrus ibi ecclesia," which is translated, "Wherever Peter is, there is the Church."

Peter was in America last week, on the South Lawn of the White House, and at the Catholic University of America. Peter’s great smile and obvious serenity ignited a nation, a Church and a continent with hope in the midst of cynicism and despair, and while many would like to hasten death for a Church that is alive and young. Peter’s words addressed to representatives of more than 190 member nations of the United Nations spoke of human rights, dignity, dialogue and peace to a world at war in so many places. Peter’s eloquent silence, prayer and gestures at ground zero brought healing and peace to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on a nation.

The New Testament's Acts of the Apostles tells us "that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed."

Benedict XVI came to America last week to bring healing and hope. His words and simple gestures were desperately needed in a nation torn apart by terrorism and wars, and in a Church split by many divisions. Only time, reflection and prayer will reveal if the healing of U.S. Catholics, begun last week, will bear fruit for the Church in America.

One thing is certain, however: Last week the shadow of Peter fell on millions of people in America and far beyond. And many received hope and experienced healing from our many diseases. And one more thing happened last week: Joseph Ratzinger came into his own.

Though elected and installed as Pope three years ago, I think his Papacy really began in the minds and hearts of North Americans last week when "Peter was among us."

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Marking 5 Years Since Youth Day '02
Interview With Father Thomas Rosica

 TORONTO, JULY 28, 2007 (Zenit.org) - World Youth Day 2002 woke up the Church in Canada, said Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, national director of the event held in Toronto five years ago.

Speaking with ZENIT to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 17th World Youth Day, Father Rosica commented about what effects the event brought to Canada and the Church.

Father Rosica is the director of the Toronto-based Salt and Light Media Foundation and Catholic Television Network, which he founded in 2003.

Q: World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto took place five years ago. What do you think has been the most profound effect the event had on the Church in Canada?

Father Rosica: World Youth Day 2002 was a tremendous catalyst allowing many great things to happen in and to Canada.

We may choose to speak of World Youth Day as something in the past -- that brightened the shadows, monotony and fatigue of our lives at one shining moment in history in 2002.

Against a world background of terror and fear, economic collapse and ecclesial scandals, World Youth Day presented an alternative vision of compelling beauty.

World Youth Day 2002 woke up the country and the Church in Canada.

The Catholic Church was alive and young during those glorious days of July 2002, and the Church continues to be alive and young today.

World Youth Day 2002 also shifted the plates of the earth in Canada in the area of media relations. Two sections of the Holy Father's talks remain engraved on my memory.

First, at the arrival ceremony in Toronto for John Paul II at the beginning of World Youth Day 2002, the Holy Father spoke these prophetic words to government officials and the people of Canada at Pearson International Airport on July 23, 2002:

"Canadians are heirs to an extraordinarily rich humanism, enriched even more by the blend of many different cultural elements. ...

"In a world of great social and ethical strains, and confusion about the very purpose of life, Canadians have an incomparable treasure to contribute -- on condition that they preserve what is deep and good and valid in their own heritage."

Then on Saturday evening, July 27, 2002, on the tarmac of a former military air base in Toronto, Downsview Park, John Paul II spoke these thought-provoking words to the crowd of more than 600,000 young people gathered at the great vigil of World Youth Day 2002:

"The question that arises is dramatic: On what foundations must we build the new historical era that is emerging from the great transformations of the 20th century?

"Is it enough to rely on the technological revolution now taking place, which seems to respond only to criteria of productivity and efficiency, without reference to the individual's spiritual dimension or to any universally shared ethical values?

"Is it right to be content with provisional answers to the ultimate questions, and to abandon life to the impulses of instinct, to short-lived sensations or passing fads?"

And what happened in our country over the past five years? One of the most serious crises of our times is the crisis of marriage and family life.

Canadians have to reflect carefully on the social consequences involved in the redefinition of marriage, examining all that is entailed if society no longer gives a privileged place and fundamental value to the lifelong union of a man and a woman in marriage.

As the keystone of society, the family is the most favorable environment in which to welcome children.

I will never forget the sight of John Paul II descending the stairs of the plane that brought him to Toronto, and ascending the stairs of the plane that would take him to Guatemala at the end of our World Youth Day in Toronto.

John Paul II taught us in the twilight of his pontificate that everyone must suffer, even the Vicar of Christ. Rather than hide his infirmities, as most public figures do, he let the whole world see what he went through.

In a youth-obsessed culture in which people are constantly urged to fight or deny the ravages of time, age, disease, he reminded us that aging and suffering are a natural part of being human.

Where the old and infirm are so easily put in nursing homes and often forgotten, the Pope was a timely and powerful reminder that our parents and grandparents, the sick, the handicapped and the dying have great value.

Our Canadian reality is truly based on a transcendent vision of life based on Christian revelation that has made us a free, democratic and caring society, recognized throughout the world as a champion of human rights and human dignity.

We will only continue to offer this treasure to humanity and history if we preserve what is deep and good and valid in our own heritage.

We must uphold the dignity of all human life, from its earliest moments to its final moments of natural death. And we must celebrate the dignity and sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman, as well as fostering and loving family life.

Q: You attribute the founding of Salt and Light Television to World Youth Day. Can you explain more about your network and how it was the direct result of that event?

Father Rosica: Canada needed this television medium more than we know. Starting up a television network anywhere is fraught with challenges, and in Canada this is compounded by the country's size, distances, languages and cultures.

But God was with us from the beginning of this great adventure, just as he was with us through the preparation and execution of World Youth Day 2002.

I learned most of what I am doing here at Salt and Light Television from John Paul II. He was a brilliant teacher and model of goodness and humanity, a wise communicator and a true "Pontifex Massmediaticus."

Salt and Light Television was born on the wings of World Youth Day 2002, drawn from Matthew 5:13-14 -- "You Are the Salt of the Earth and Light of the World" was the theme for World Youth Day 2002.


The Catholic television project is clearly a tribute to and a legacy of John Paul II, and World Youth Day 2002 was the wind beneath our wings.

There could be no better way to carry on the legacy of World Youth Day 2002 than through Canada's first national Catholic television network that bears the imprint and tradition of World Youth Days. The television network came about through the generosity of an Italian Canadian family that owns the largest private print and media company in the country, St. Joseph Media.

Its founder, Gaetano Gagliano, now 90 years old, was a disciple and friend of Blessed Giacomo Alberione. Gagliano views Salt and Light as the crown of his long career in the print, media and communications industry.

The Gaglianos provided the seed money of $15 million to get this project off the ground four years ago.

Initially available only in the Toronto area, the network is now carried by cable and satellite television services that cover Canada coast to coast.

Its programs -- in English, French, some Italian and, most recently, shows in Mandarin and Cantonese -- are available to nearly a half-million Canadian homes, primarily as a low-cost pay-cable channel.

A limited amount of Salt and Light programming also can be seen in the United States. U.S. residents can sample Salt and Light programming on our Web site, which offers promotional clips of all current shows as well as streaming video.

Salt and Light documentaries appear periodically on the Eternal Word Television Network. Salt and Light also has entered a programming exchange with Boston Catholic Television Network, which is available in various parts of the East Coast of the United States.

Recently has been announced the launch of H2O News, a new multilingual television service developed in cooperation with several Vatican agencies.

We are thrilled to have been invited by H20 to provide the English component of H2O, as well as assisting with the French and eventually the Chinese services. This will certainly help us to enhance our news dimension and thrust us on a global stage.

Q: Staffed by young people, most of whom participated in some way in World Youth Day, what do you think is the unique contribution Salt and Light offers television viewers?

Father Rosica: First and foremost one of the great contributions of Salt and Light Catholic Television Network is the unique manner in which young Catholics have assumed leadership roles in our evangelization efforts.

One clearly gets the impression that the Church is "alive and young" at Salt and Light.

Second is our commitment to offer Canadian society a message of hope, and an invitation to draw closer to Christ and the Church through our programming.

In many ways, Canada is a new mission territory, and the urgent pastoral needs for education in faith and spirituality, history and Church teachings are so vast and can never be fulfilled by one group or agency.

Everything we do at the Salt and Light Catholic Television Network revolves around the five pillars of the Salt and Light Television network: 1) prayer, devotion and meditation; 2) multilingual Catholic liturgy, Vatican events and ceremonies; 3) learning and faith development for all ages; 4) stories of Catholic action and social justice throughout Canada and around the globe; 5) stories of our Catholic communities, information and context.

Salt and Light Television network also works closely with the major television networks in Canada to assist in the background material and education about Catholic matters.

This was clearly evident in 2005 during the transition in the papacy. These efforts have built badly needed bridges with the secular media, and continue the legacy of World Youth Day 2002.

Q: Other than the network, have you seen tangible examples of young lives changed by World Youth Day? And what about the not-so-young you encounter?

Father Rosica: One of the most significant aspects and fruits of World Youth Days is that young people have rediscovered their bishops and priests, and bishops and priests have rediscovered their young people.

I recall John Paul II stating on several occasions that World Youth Days exists not only for the conversion of young people and the societies in which they live, but also for the conversion of their bishops and priests. There is much truth in these words.

Canada was particularly blessed to have many bishops who truly believe in World Youth Day as a powerful instrument of evangelization.

Through World Youth Days, John Paul II unleashed something totally new and unthinkable some 25 years ago!

We have felt the effects of World Youth Day 2002 throughout the vast Canadian landscape over the past five years, from the dynamic Youth Ministry Program in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, to the powerful Scriptural "Lectio Divina" evenings with the young people of Edmonton, Alberta.

Over these past five years the Cathedral of Kingston, Ontario, came alive with catechesis sessions for young people and many older ones as well!

There have been revitalized youth ministry programs in the Ontario Dioceses of St. Catharines, London, Toronto, and Cornwall.

We cannot help but be grateful to God, giving thanks for the renewed energies among the young people of the Archdiocese of Montreal, Quebec.

In Atlantic Canada there has been a veritable explosion of youth activities in Halifax, and World Youth Day inspired the birth of the John Paul II Media Center in Halifax, a creative media project led by young people.

In Quebec City, birthplace of the Church in North America, the seeds and winds of World Youth Day 2002 have empowered young people and the Quebec Church to prepare for the Eucharistic Congress in June 2008.

The energy of World Youth Day has swept across Canada through powerful, Gospel-rooted movements like Catholic Christian Outreach, now present on many university campuses of the country. National Evangelization Teams Ministries continues to flourish with the World Youth Day 2002 spirit.

The phenomenon of World Youth Day has become a powerful seedbed for vocations to the priesthood, consecrated life, marriage and lay ecclesial ministries.

Whether it is because those who have already sensed a call choose to attend World Youth Day out of their strong faith life, or because World Youth Day awakens young adults for the first time to the special call of God, World Youth Day can be a moment of life-changing discernment.

On June 29, as I sat in St. Peter's Basilica and watched the scene of Benedict XVI placing the pallium on the shoulders of five new Canadian archbishops, I quietly thanked God that each of these pastors and leaders had already taken to heart the gift of World Youth Day 2002 and have built so well on its foundation.

And many of the episcopal appointments in Canada over the past five years have manifested that being a bishop today in the Church means that one has a special mission to young people.

Q: Canada once had a thriving Catholic culture. Have you seen a return to the participation in the Church, sacraments, etc., in the years following World Youth Day?

Father Rosica: World Youth Days offer no panacea or quick fix to the problems and challenges of our times. Rather, they offer a new framework and new lenses through which we look at the Church and the world, and build our future.

One thing was clear after World Youth Day 2002: We realized that we have much work to do in reaching out to young adults across this vast land.

July 2002 was for us not an end or accomplishment of some fete; it was rather beginning of a new adventure of faith and hope for the entire Canadian Church.

At our World Youth Day 2002 in Canada, John Paul II issued a clarion call to commitment to the entire Church in Canada.

To his young friends he said: "Many and enticing are the voices that call out to you from all sides: many of these voices speak to you of a joy that can be had with money, success, and power. Mostly they propose a joy that comes with the superficial and fleeting pleasure of the senses."

The alternative call was Jesus' cry: "He calls you to be the salt and light of the world, to live in justice, to become instruments of love and peace." The choice was stark, self-denying, life-defining, and irrevocable.

It was between, "good and evil, between light and darkness, between life and death."

There were no shortcuts or compromises for John Paul II, only clarity. And that is what young people are seeking today, not quick answers but Gospel clarity.

It is incumbent on the Church to offer solid opportunities for youth and young adult ministry that contain solid content, vision, community and hope.

Many people have commented to me that World Youth Day 2002 taught them to wear biblical lenses in order to understand what July 2002 was all about for the Church in Canada.

On a very personal note, as I remember the great event of World Youth Day 2002, and allow it to take on its true dimensions -- one image seems to dominate: that of the rather violent and ferocious wind and storm that rocked Downsview Park on Sunday morning, July 28, 2002.

It was for me and for many the wind of Pentecost that we read about in the New Testament.

And yet, in the midst of the howling wind and violent storm, the nations of the earth -- at least 172 of them huddled together in that field -- understood one another as they gathered around the successor of Peter on that July morning five years ago.

This was the wind that had led the World Youth Day Cross from sea to sea to sea, across Canada "a mari usque ad mare." That summer and that particular morning of July 28, 2002, I believe that the Church in Canada was born again on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Canada is often described on the international scene as being one of the most politically correct or tolerant societies in the world.

Some take great pride in these words applied to our country. Others, including myself, do not necessarily see this description as something terribly positive.

There is nothing politically correct about preaching and living the Gospel, about being salt and light in a culture that has lost the flavor of the Gospel and tried to extinguish the light of Christ.

In fact, the Gospel message is at times completely incorrect in the eyes and ways of the world! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed with boldness and with courage -- and that is one of the great lessons of World Youth Day 2002.

A boldness that does not overpower, that is not rude, that does not bully, that is never disrespectful, that never shows off or flaunts gifts that one has received -- but where the Spirit has been so lavishly poured out upon us as individuals and as a faith community, the Church has an obligation to announce and to proclaim Jesus Christ boldly, unapologetically and unabashedly -- with great joy.

Earlier this month while visiting Rome, I spent several long moments in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica, at the grave of John Paul II, the great dreamer and father of World Youth Days.

Every day I ask the Servant of God Pope John Paul II to pray for us and intercede for us, and especially for the young people who found in him a father, a grandfather, a teacher and a demanding friend who loved them.

May those same young people find in the Church in Canada a rock, a shelter, a harbor, a home, and a possible lifetime of service in the Church today -- a Church that is "alive and young," as Benedict XVI said at the inauguration of his Petrine Ministry in 2005.

Turning the Tide Against Euthanasia
Interview With Father Thomas Rosica

TORONTO, MAY 6, 2007 (Zenit.org) - One can know if a society is still Christian by the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens, according to the director of Salt and Light Catholic television network.

In this interview with ZENIT, Father Thomas Rosica commented on the Toronto-based network's newest documentary: "Turning the Tide: Dignity, Compassion and Euthanasia."

The documentary was released April 2, the second anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II.

http://www.saltandlighttv.org/prog_special_ttt.html

Basilian Father Rosica was the national director of World Youth Day 2002 prior to founding Canada's first Catholic television network. He also lectures on sacred Scripture at the Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto. Since July 2006 he is a member of the General Council of the Congregation of Priests of St. Basil.

Q: The name of your documentary is "Turning the Tide." How can we as a culture turn the tide away from the universal acceptance of euthanasia?

Father Rosica: We took the title of our documentary from the words of the great 19th-century American writer Harriet Beecher Stowe: "When ... everything goes against you … never give up … for that is just the place and time … that the tide will turn."

"Turning the Tide" looks at all aspects of the euthanasia and the assisted-suicide issue, from the point of view of those people who see themselves as most threatened if a law is passed allowing euthanasia.

When people today speak about a "good death," they usually refer to an attempt to control the end of one's life, even through physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia.

We have a responsibility to confront these actions -- especially if we are to understand our moral obligation as caregivers for incapacitated persons, and our civic obligation to protect those who lack the capacity to express their will but are still human, still living, and still deserving of equal protection under the law.

There can be no true peace unless life is defended and promoted.

The best way to know if we are still in any way a Christian society is to see how we treat our most vulnerable people, the ones with little or no claim on public attention, the ones without beauty or strength or intelligence.

Q: What has been the role of the mainstream media in promoting euthanasia and assisted suicide?

Father Rosica: The mainstream media has caused great confusion about the topic of euthanasia and has been extremely deceptive in its portrayal of human suffering and compassion.

Most people who think that euthanasia and assisted suicide should be legal are not thinking the whole issue through. They are thinking about personal autonomy and choice.

They think about what it would be like to suddenly become incapacitated, and consider such a life as undignified or worthless. Perhaps they consider severely disabled people as having no quality of life.

Our dignity and quality of life don't come from what we can or cannot do. Dignity and quality of life are not matters of efficiency, proficiency and productivity. They come from a deeper place -- from who we are and how we relate to each other.

Q: Many view euthanasia as compassionate, as death with dignity. What does the Church say with regard to compassion, dignity and death?

Father Rosica: This issue strikes to the very core of who we are and what we believe.

Even when not motivated by the refusal to be burdened with the life of someone who is suffering, euthanasia must be called false and misguided mercy. True compassion leads to sharing another's pain, not killing the person whose suffering we cannot bear.

What is wrong with abortion, euthanasia, embryo selection and embryonic research are not the motives of those who carry them out. So often, those motives are, on the surface, compassionate: to protect a child from being unwanted, to end pain and suffering, to help a child with a life-threatening disease.

But in all these cases, the terrible truth is that it is the strong who decide the fate of the weak; human beings therefore become instruments in the hands of other human beings.

Our society today has lost sight of the sacred nature of human life. As Catholic Christians we are deeply committed to the protection of life in its earliest moments to its final moments.

The Christian notion of a good death is not as a good end, but a good transition, that requires faith, proper acceptance and readiness.

"Turning the Tide" proposes that true compassion is the best way to handle human suffering.

Q: Do laws prohibiting euthanasia have a place in a free society? Is the right to die a human right?

Father Rosica: Currently in Canada, euthanasia is considered murder and the law provides for a maximum of 14 years in prison for cases of assisted suicide.

In June 2005, Francine Lalonde, a Bloc Québecois member of the Canadian House of Commons, introduced Bill C-407 that would change the Canadian criminal code and legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada.

The bill had some initial problems and was not passed, but Lalonde, re-elected in 2006, has promised to reintroduce her bill.

The notion that euthanasia and assisted suicide could be a reality for us in Canada should come as a wake-up call to all Canadians, not just because of the notion that all life is sacred from conception to natural death, but simply because of whom such a law would affect most, the most vulnerable.

This includes the chronically ill, who are a strain on the health care system; the elderly who have been abandoned and who have no one to speak on their behalf and who feel they may be a burden to others; and the disabled who have to fight every day to maintain their own integrity and dignity.

If we look at how the system has gone in the Netherlands, Belgium and in the state of Oregon in the United States, we can see that legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide will not be the solution.

Consider the following statistics:

In 1984, in the Netherlands, euthanasia was declared legal when certain conditions were met.

Even though about 2,400 cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide are reported each year, the Dutch government conducted a study in 1991 that found that there were up to 12,000 cases that year.

Of these, about half the patients did not request or consent to being killed. One of the doctors explained that it would have been "rude" to discuss the matter with the patients, as they all "knew that their conditions were incurable."

Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2002. That year, 204 people were reported to have been killed. In 2006, 444 people were reported to have been killed. In 2005, the Belgian government acknowledged that approximately half of all euthanasia deaths are not reported.

In Oregon, physician-assisted suicide was legalized in 1997. In 1998, there were 16 reported assisted suicide deaths. In 2005, there were 36.

In view of what has happened in other countries, it is time to turn the tide before all Canadians have to start fighting for our lives.

Q: What can the world learn from the way Pope John Paul II lived his death?

Father Rosica: John Paul II showed us true dignity in the face of death.

Rather than hide his infirmities, as most public figures do, he let the whole world see what he went through in the final phase of his life.

Before the cameras, John Paul II taught that although science can ease discomfort, palliative care should not be used as a cloak to hide the fact of dying.

As the curtain was about to fall, nothing made him waver, even the debilitating sickness hidden under the glazed Parkinsonian mask, and ultimately his inability to speak and move.

Pope John Paul has become a living "argument" for the appeal to respect the most frail and vulnerable, who he upheld during his pontificate.

Who can say his life was not fruitful, when his body was able to climb snow-capped summits or vacation on Strawberry Island in Lake Simcoe in 2002, during World Youth Day in Canada?

Who didn't feel the paradoxical influence of his presence, when his voice was muted?

In our youth-obsessed culture, Pope John Paul II reminded us that aging and suffering are a natural part of being human.

Where the old and infirm are so easily put in homes and forgotten, the Pope was a powerful reminder that the sick, the handicapped and the dying have great value.

John Paul II taught us how to live, to suffer and to die. May he watch over us now and strengthen us as we turn the tide in our time.

É possível evangelizar com a televisão
Entrevista com o padre Thomas Rosica,
presidente e fundador do canal «Salt and Light»
ZENIT INTERNATIONAL NEWS SERVICE

TORONTO, quarta-feira, 1 de fevereiro de 2006 (Zenit.org)- Ainda que alguns não acreditem, é possível evangelizar com a televisão, assegura o sacerdote que coordenou a Jornada Mundial da Juventude no Canadá, em 2002.

Ao acabar a Jornada, o padre Thomas Rosica, religioso basiliano, foi nomeado presidente executivo e fundador do canal católico de televisão «Salt and Light» («Sal e luz»).

Nesta entrevista, o padre Rosica, que é também professor de Sagrada Escritura na Faculdade de Teologia da Universidade de Toronto, conta a Zenit os primeiros passos desta aventura.

--Como foi recebida a televisão «Salt and Light» no Canadá?

--Padre Rosica: O Canadá necessita deste meio mais do que parece. Iniciar uma cadeia televisiva em qualquer parte está carregado de desafios, mas no Canadá, também, há que contar com o tamanho do país, as distâncias, as línguas e as culturas.

O esforço foi compensado com incontáveis bênçãos e consolos. Em só três anos, «Salt and Light» conseguiu chegar a cem mil lares. E o número de subscrições continua aumentando.

--Como se chegou a criar a rede televisiva «Salt and Light»?

--Padre Rosica: A televisão «Salt and Light» nasceu na onda da Jornada Mundial da Juventude. Com freqüência comparei esta Jornada com uma bomba, de santa energia e criatividade, que lentamente está produzindo fruto em toda nossa terra.

Um dos frutos mais evidentes do acontecimento de 2002 é esta cadeia que foi possível graças à generosidade de uma família ítalo-canadense, proprietária da maior companhia editorial e de publicações do país, St. Joseph Communications. Seu fundador, Gaetano Gagliano, que tem agora 88 anos, foi discípulo e amigo do beato Giacomo Alberione.

O senhor Gagliano vê «Salt and Light» como o broche de ouro de uma longa carreira na indústria das publicações e na comunicação. Os Gagliano proporcionaram o capital para iniciar o projeto.

Frutos visíveis da Jornada Mundial da Juventude são também outros pequenos esforços no campo dos meios de comunicação, na Arquidiocese de Halifax, com o Instituto de Meios de Comunicação João Paulo II, e a nova produtora de filmes católicos da Arquidiocese de Quebec.

«Salt and Light» colabora estreitamente com ambas dioceses e seus valiosos arcebispos: Terrence Prendergast, S.J., em Halifax, e o cardeal Marc Ouellet, em Quebec, para reforçar seus programas e beneficiar-se das experiências e atividades de cada iniciativa.

Desde nosso início, em 2003, recebemos um firme apoio e impulso do Centro Televisivo Vaticano, de muitos departamentos da Santa Sé, da Conferência Episcopal canadense e de muitas dioceses do país.

Também colaboramos muito de perto com os serviços televisivos da Conferência Episcopal dos Estados Unidos, com Telepace e SAT 2000 na Itália, KTO na França, o Centro de Meios de Comunicação da Arquidiocese de Hong Kong, e numerosas redes de televisão católicas e produtoras católicas de todo o mundo enquanto preparávamos nossa programação para o Canadá.

--Alguns dizem que já existe o canal de televisão católico criado pela Madre Angélica, EWTN, sobretudo na América do Norte. Que é o específico da missão de «Salt and Light»?

--Padre Rosica: A madre Angélica e sua muito competente e admirável equipe fizeram algo grande por Deus e a Igreja dando-nos o canal EWTN.

Mas sabemos que as urgentes necessidades pastorais de educação na fé, na espiritualidade, história e ensinamento da Igreja são tão amplas que nunca podem ser satisfeitas por um só grupo ou agência.

Vemos nossos esforços em «Salt and Light» como complementares aos de EWTN, mas também estamos respondendo a necessidades específicas e a complexidades da Igreja canadense.

--Descreva um dia na programação de «Salt and Light».

--Padre Rosica: Tudo o que fazemos se move em torno a cinco pilares: oração, devoção e meditação; liturgia católica multilingüe, eventos vaticanos e cerimônias; ensinamentos e crescimento na fé para todas as idades; reportagens sobre ação católica e justiça social no Canadá e no mundo; reportagens sobre nossas comunidades católicas; informação e contexto.

Produzimos regularmente catorze programas em nosso centro de emissões em inglês, francês, italiano e começaremos em fevereiro de 2006 com um dialeto chinês, o cantonês.

Também oferecemos ocasionalmente programas em espanhol, polonês e alemão. Estas línguas respondem à diversidade cultural da Igreja no Canadá.

«Salt and Light» colabora também com as maiores cadeias televisivas do Canadá para ajudar em assuntos de educação católica e material de documentação. Isto se viu no ano passado, durante a transição do papado. Estes esforços permitem construir pontes muito necessárias com os meios seculares.

--Fale-nos de seu departamento de documentários.

--Padre Rosica: O departamento de documentários de «Salt and Light» está especializado em vidas de santos e outras reportagens católicas únicas.

Um de nossos primeiros documentários se fez na Colômbia, e informava dos jovens que em Bogotá e Medellín faziam as pequenas cruzes de madeira usadas na Jornada Mundial da Juventude, em Toronto.

Esta história de justiça social, «Aprende daquela Cruz», emocionou o mundo e conservou viva a memória da Jornada Mundial. Nosso documentário mais conhecido é «O amor é uma eleição», sobre a vida de Santa Gianna Beretta Molla.

Elegemos esta nova santa como patrona de nossa cadeia televisiva. Se havia algo que necessitávamos naquele momento era do modelo forte de feminilidade, maternidade, vida matrimonial, familiar, ética e profissional que representa Santa Gianna.

Seu marido Pietro e sua família são bons amigos meus e nos pediram para fazer um documentário de sua vida. O filme sobre Santa Gianna está disponível em inglês, francês, italiano, espanhol, e logo em polonês, português, árabe e cantonês.

Nosso mais recente documentário, premiado em setembro pelo «National Film Board Theater» em Toronto, titula-se «Viagem de luz: a busca de Deus na Terra Santa». Este filme de 47 minutos foi rodado em cenários de Israel e Palestina.

O documentário anima a peregrinar à Terra Santa e foi produzido com ajuda de Sua Beatitude Michel Sabbah, patriarca latino de Jerusalém, e segue a viagem de um grupo de jovens católicos pela terra de Jesus.

--Sabemos que João Paulo II teve um grande impacto em sua vida e trabalho. Como segue influindo sua vida e visão em «Salt and Light», e em sua própria vida?

--Padre Rosica: Aprendi muito do que agora faço em «Salt and Light» de João Paulo II. Foi um professor brilhante e modelo de bondade e de humanidade... um sábio comunicador e verdadeiro «pontífice mediático».

João Paulo II gostou muito que o projeto desta televisão católica canadense nascesse depois da Jornada Mundial da Juventude. Tive oportunidade de encontrá-lo em várias ocasiões em 2003 e 2004, e compartilhar com ele o crescimento da cadeia. Seus olhos brilharam!

Agora lhe pedimos que siga abençoando este audaz projeto de nova evangelização. Estou seguro de que Santa Gianna Beretta Molla e o Papa João Paulo II farão todo o possível por ajudar-nos a encarnar, dar profundidade e beleza às palavras, às histórias e às imagens da Igreja, mediante o instrumento da televisão católica no Canadá.

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Es posible evangelizar con la televisión
Entrevista con el padre Thomas Rosica,
presidente y fundador del canal «Salt and Light»
ZENIT INTERNATIONAL NEWS SERVICE

TORONTO, miércoles, 1 febrero 2006 (Zenit.org)- Aunque algunos no lo crean, es posible evangelizar con la televisión, asegura el sacerdote que coordinó a nivel nacional la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud en Canadá, en 2002.

Nada más acabar la Jornada, el padre Thomas Rosica, religioso basiliano, fue nombrado presidente ejecutivo y fundador del canal católico de televisión «Salt and Light» («Sal y luz»).

En esta entrevista el padre Rosica, quien es además profesor de Sagrada Escritura en la Facultad de Teología de la Universidad de Toronto, cuenta a Zenit los primeros pasos de esta aventura.

--¿Cómo ha sido recibida la televisión «Salt and Light» en Canadá?

--Padre Rosica: Canadá necesita este medio más de lo que parece. Iniciar una cadena televisiva, en cualquier parte, está cargado de desafíos pero en Canadá, además, hay que contar con el tamaño del país, las distancias, las lenguas y las culturas.

El esfuerzo ha sido compensado con incontables bendiciones y consuelos. En sólo tres años, «Salt and Light» ha logrado llegar a cien mil hogares. Y el número de suscriptores sigue aumentando.

--¿Cómo se llegó a crear la red televisiva «Salt and Light»?

--Padre Rosica: La televisión «Salt and Light» nació en la onda de la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud. A menudo he comparado esta Jornada con una bomba de efecto retardado, de santa energía y creatividad, que lentamente está produciendo fruto en toda nuestra tierra.

Uno de los frutos más evidentes del acontecimiento de 2002 es esta cadena que fue posible gracias a la generosidad de una familia italo-canadiense, propietaria de la más grande compañía editorial y de publicaciones del país, St. Joseph Communications. Su fundador, Gaetano Gagliano, que tiene ahora 88 años, fue discípulo y amigo del beato Giacomo Alberione.

El señor Gagliano ve «Salt and Light» como el broche de oro de una larga carrera en la industria de las publicaciones y la comunicación. Los Gagliano proporcionaron el capital para iniciar el proyecto.

Frutos visibles de la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud son también otros pequeños esfuerzos en el campo de los medios, en la Arquidiócesis de Halifax, con el Instituto de Medios de Comunicación Juan Pablo II, y la nueva productora de filmes católicos de la Arquidiócesis de Quebec.

«Salt and Light» colabora estrechamente con ambas diócesis y su valiosos arzobispos: Terrence Prendergast, S.J, en Halifax, y el cardenal Marc Ouellet, en Quebec, para reforzar sus programas y beneficiarse de las experiencias y actividades de cada iniciativa.

Desde nuestro inicio, en 2003, hemos recibido un firme apoyo e impulso del Centro Televisivo Vaticano, de muchos departamentos de la Santa Sede, de la Conferencia Episcopal canadiense y de muchas diócesis del país.

También hemos colaborado muy de cerca con los servicios televisivos de la Conferencia Episcopal de Estados Unidos, con Telepace y SAT 2000 en Italia, KTO en Francia, el Centro de Medios de Comunicación de la Arquidiócesis de Hong Kong, y numerosas redes de televisión católicas y productoras católicas de todo el mundo mientras preparábamos nuestra programación para Canadá.

--Algunos dicen que ya existe el canal de televisión católico creado por la Madre Angelica, EWTN, sobre todo en América del Norte. ¿Qué es lo específico de la misión de «Salt and Light»?

--Padre Rosica: La madre Angelica y su muy competente y admirable equipo han hecho algo grande por Dios y la Iglesia dándonos el canal EWTN.

Pero sabemos que las urgentes necesidades pastorales de educación en la fe y en la espiritualidad, historia y enseñanza de la Iglesia son tan amplias que nunca pueden ser satisfechas por un solo grupo o agencia.

Vemos nuestros esfuerzos en «Salt and Light» como complementarios de los de EWTN, pero también estamos respondiendo a necesidades específicas y a complejidades de la Iglesia canadiense.

--Describa un día en la programación de «Salt and Light».

--Padre Rosica: Todo lo que hacemos se mueve en torno a cinco pilares: oración, devoción y meditación; liturgia católica multilingüe, eventos vaticanos y ceremonias; enseñanza y crecimiento en la fe para todas las edades; reportajes sobre acción católica y justicia social en Canadá y el mundo; reportajes sobre nuestras comunidades católicas; información y contexto.

Producimos regularmente catorce programas en nuestro centro de emisiones en inglés, francés, italiano y empezaremos en febrero de 2006 con un dialecto chino, el cantonés.

También ofrecemos ocasionalmente programas en español, polaco y alemán. Estas lenguas responden a la diversidad cultural de la Iglesia en Canadá.

«Salt and Light» colabora también con las mayores cadenas televisivas de Canadá para ayudar en asuntos de educación católica y material de documentación. Esto se vio el invierno y primavera pasados, durante la transición del papado. Estos esfuerzos han permitido construir puentes muy necesarios con los medios seculares.

--Háblenos de su departamento de documentales

--Padre Rosica: El departamento de documentales de «Salt and Light» está especializado en vidas de santos y otros reportajes católicos únicos.

Uno de nuestros primeros documentales se hizo en Colombia, e informaba de los jóvenes que en Bogotá y Medellín hacían las pequeñas cruces de madera usadas en la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud, en Toronto.

Esta historia de justicia social, «Aprende de aquella Cruz», emocionó al mundo y conservó viva la memoria de la Jornada Mundial. Nuestro documental más conocido es «El amor es una elección», sobre la vida de santa Gianna Beretta Molla.

Elegimos a esta nueva santa como patrona de nuestra cadena televisiva. Si había algo que necesitábamos en aquel momento era el modelo fuerte de femineidad, maternidad, vida matrimonial, familiar, ética y profesional que representa santa Gianna.

Su marido Pietro y su familia son buenos amigos míos y nos pidieron hacer un documental de su vida. El filme sobre santa Gianna está disponible en inglés, francés, italiano, español, y pronto en polaco, portugués, árabe y cantonés.

Nuestro más reciente documental, premiado en septiembre por el «National Film Board Theater» en Toronto, se titula «Viaje de luz: la búsqueda de Dios en Tierra Santa». Esta película de 47 minutos fue rodada en escenarios de Israel y Palestina.

El documental anima a peregrinar a Tierra Santa y fue producido con ayuda de Su Beatitud Michel Sabbah, patriarca latino de Jerusalén, y sigue el viaje de un grupo de jóvenes católicos por la tierra de Jesús.

--Sabemos que Juan Pablo II tuvo un gran impacto en su vida y trabajo. ¿Cómo sigue influyendo su vida y visión en «Salt and Light», y en su propia vida?

--Padre Rosica: Aprendí mucho de lo que ahora hago en «Salt and Light» de Juan Pablo II. Fue un profesor brillante y modelo de bondad y de humanidad... un sabio comunicador y verdadero «pontífice mediático».

A Juan Pablo II le gustó mucho que el proyecto de esta televisión católica canadiense naciera después de la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud, y tuve la oportunidad de encontrarle en varias ocasiones en 2003 y 2004, y compartir con él el crecimiento de la cadena. ¡Le brillaban los ojos!

Ahora le pedimos que siga bendiciendo este audaz proyecto de nueva evangelización. Estoy seguro de que santa Gianna Beretta Molla y el Papa Juan Pablo II harán todo lo posible por ayudarnos a encarnar, dar profundidad y belleza a las palabras, a la historias y a las imágenes de la Iglesia, mediante el instrumento de la televisión católica en Canadá.

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Evangelizing Through TV in Canada
Interview With Father Thomas Rosica,
President of Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation
ZENIT INTERNATIONAL NEWS SERVICE

TORONTO, JAN. 27, 2006 (Zenit.org)- Television is no longer forbidden territory for evangelization, says the priest who served as national director of World Youth Day 2002 in Canada.

Immediately after that World Youth Day, Basilian Father Thomas Rosica was appointed as president and chief executive officer of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and television network in Canada.

He also lectures on sacred Scripture at the Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto.

Q: How is Salt and Light Television being received in Canada?

Father Rosica: Canada needed this medium more than we know. Starting up a television network anywhere is fraught with challenges, and in Canada this is compounded by the country's size, distances, languages and cultures.

The endeavor has been filled with countless blessings and consolations. In a little less than three years, Salt and Light Television is available in over 100,000 homes. And the number of subscribers is growing.

Q: How did the Salt and Light Television network come about?

Father Rosica: Salt and Light Television was born on the wings of World Youth Day 2002. I have often compared WYD 2002 to a time-released capsule of holy energy and creativity that is slowly bearing fruit across our land.

One of the most obvious fruits of the 2002 event is the television network that came about through the generosity of an Italian Canadian family that owns the largest private print and media company in the country, St. Joseph Communications. Its founder, Mr. Gaetano Gagliano, now 88 years old, was a disciple and friend of Blessed Giacomo Alberione.

Mr. Gagliano views Salt and Light as the crown of his long career in the print, media and communications industry. The Gaglianos provided the seed money to get this project off the ground.

Other visible fruits of the 2002 World Youth Day in Canada have been smaller media efforts in the Archdiocese of Halifax with the John Paul II Media Institute, and the new Catholic film productions in the Archdiocese of Quebec.

Salt and Light is working closely with both dioceses and their fine archbishops: Terrence Prendergast, S.J., in Halifax and Cardinal Marc Ouellet in Quebec City, to encourage their efforts and benefit from the skills and activities of each initiative.

From our very beginning in 2003, we have received unfailing support and encouragement from the Vatican Television Center, from many departments of the Holy See, from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and many individual Canadian dioceses.

We have also worked closely with the American bishops' conference television services, Telepace and SAT 2000 in Italy, KTO in France, the Archdiocese of Hong Kong Media Center, and numerous Catholic television networks and Catholic film production houses throughout the world as we prepared our programming for Canada.

Q: Some say that we already have EWTN available, especially in North America. What is unique and specific to the mission of Salt and Light Television?

Father Rosica: Mother Angelica and her very competent and admirable team have done something great for God and the Church by giving us EWTN.

Yet we know that the urgent pastoral needs for education in faith and spirituality, history and Church teachings are so vast and can never be fulfilled by one group or agency.

We view our efforts at Salt and Light as complementary to those of EWTN, but we are also responding to specific needs and complexities of the Canadian Church.

Q: Describe the 24-hour-a-day programming schedule of the Salt and Light Television Network.

Father Rosica: Everything we do revolves around the five pillars of the Salt and Light Television network: prayer, devotion and meditation; multilingual Catholic liturgy, Vatican events and ceremonies; learning and faith development for all ages; stories of Catholic action and social justice throughout Canada and around the globe; stories of our Catholic communities; information and context.

We are producing 14 regular programs in our Toronto broadcast center in English, French, Italian, and beginning in February, 2006, in the Chinese dialect of Cantonese.

We also have occasional programs in Spanish, Polish and German. These languages respond to the culturally diverse Church in Canada.

Salt and Light Television network also works closely with the major television networks in Canada to assist in the background material and education about Catholic matters. This was clearly evident last winter and spring during the transition in the papacy. These efforts have built badly needed bridges with the secular media.

Q: Tell us about your documentary division.

Father Rosica: The documentary division of Salt and Light specializes in the lives of the saints and other unique Catholic stories.

One of our first documentaries was made in Colombia, South America, and featured the young Colombians in Bogota and Medellin who made the small wooden crosses used at World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto.

This social justice story "Learn from that Cross" has touched people throughout the world and kept alive the memory of World Youth Day 2002. Our most well-known documentary is "Love is a Choice," the life of St. Gianna Beretta Molla.

We chose this new saint as the patron of our television network. If there was ever an age when we needed a strong role model of womanhood, motherhood, marriage, family, life ethics and professionalism, it is in St. Gianna.

St. Gianna's husband Pietro and her family are good friends of mine and they asked if we would make the official film documentary of her life. The film on St. Gianna is now available in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and soon in Polish, Portuguese, Arabic and Cantonese.

Our most recent documentary premiered in September at the National Film Board Theater in Toronto. Entitled "Journey of Light: The Search for God in the Holy Land," this 47-minute documentary was filmed on location in Israel and Palestine.

This documentary, which encourages pilgrimage to the Holy Land, was produced with the assistance of His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and follows the journey of a group of young Catholics to the Holy Land.

Q: We know that Pope John Paul II had a great influence on your life and work. How does his life and vision continue to impact Salt and Light Television and your own life?

Father Rosica: I learned most of what I am doing here at Salt and Light Television from Pope John Paul II. He was a brilliant teacher and model of goodness and humanity … a wise communicator and a true "Pontifex Massmediaticus."

Pope John Paul II was very happy that this Canadian Catholic television project came to life after World Youth Day 2002 and I had the opportunity of meeting with him on several occasions in 2003 and 2004 to share with him how the network was growing. His eyes lit up!

Now we pray to him and ask him to continue to bless this bold project of the New Evangelization. I am confident that St. Gianna Beretta Molla and Pope John Paul II will do all they can to help us give flesh, depth and beauty to the words, stories and images of the Church through the medium of Catholic television in Canada.

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È possibile evangelizzare attraverso la TV?
Intervista a padre Thomas Rosica, presidente di “Salt and Light”
ZENIT

TORONTO, martedì, 20 dicembre 2005 (ZENIT.org)- La televisione non è più uno strumento inaccessibile all’evangelizzazione, secondo padre Thomas Rosica, C.S.B, canadese, Direttore nazionale e responsabile della Giornata Mondiale della Gioventù 2002 che si è svolta in Canada.

Subito dopo la Giornata Mondiale della Gioventù del 2002, padre Rosica è stato nominato Presidente e amministratore delegato di “Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation” e di “Television Network” in Canada.

Inoltre svolge delle lezioni sulle Sacre Scritture presso la Facoltà di Teologia dell’Università del St. Michael’s College di Toronto, ed è Master of Scholastics presso il Frassati House di Toronto.

P. Rosica, sono passati quasi tre anni da quando ha accettato questa missione di fondare e dirigere la Salt and Light Television, la prima rete televisiva cattolica del Canada. Qual è il successo che Salt and Light Television ha riscosso in Canada?

P. Rosica: Inizialmente, nel 2003, ero riluttante ad accettare questa missione. Ma ora non ho alcun rimpianto per aver intrapreso questo grande progetto di evangelizzazione e di educazione. Il Canada ha bisogno di questo mezzo più di quanto non si pensi! Avviare una rete televisiva è difficile ovunque e in Canada questa difficoltà è ulteriormente aggravata dalle dimensioni del Paese, dalle distanze, dalle diverse lingue e culture. L’impresa ha ricevuto abbondanti benedizioni e grazie. In meno di tre anni, Salt and Light Television è stata capace di entrare in più di 100.000 case in tutto il Paese. E il numero degli abbonamenti cresce di giorno in giorno.

Come è nata la rete televisiva Salt and Light Television?

P. Rosica: La Salt and Light Television è nata sulla scia della Gioranta Mondiale della Gioventù del 2002 (GMG 2002) che si è svolta in Canada. Spesso ho descritto la GMG 2002 come una capsula di energia santa e creatività, che rilascia con il tempo i suoi effetti, attraverso tutto il territorio nazionale.

Uno dei frutti più evidenti è rappresentato dalla rete televisiva che è nata grazia alla generosità di una famiglia italo-canadese che possiede la più grande società di stampa e di comunicazione del Paese: la “St. Joseph Communications” . Il suo fondatore, Gaetano Gagliano, 88 anni, è stato discepolo e amico del Beato Giacomo Alberione.

Il sig. Gagliano considera la Salt and Light come il coronamento della sua lunga carriera nell’industria della stampa e della comunicazione. La famiglia Gagliano, che ha fornito il capitale che ha reso possibile il decollo di questo progetto, è un meraviglioso esempio di autentica azione dei laici nella Chiesa dei nostri tempi.

Altri frutti visibili della GMG 2002 in Canada sono alcune realtà di minore dimensione come il John Paul II Media Institute nell’Arcidiocesi di Halifax e il new Catholic film productions nell’Arcidiocesi di Quebec. Salt and Light lavora a stretto contatto con entrambe le diocesi e i rispettivi Arcivescovi Terrence Prendergast, S.J. ad Halifax e il Cardinale Marc Ouellet della Città di Quebec, al fine di contribuire ai loro sforzi e di trarre i benefici derivanti dalle capacità e le attività di ciascuna iniziativa.

Sin dall’inizio del 2003 abbiamo ricevuto un sostegno immancabile da parte del Centro Televisivo Vaticano, di molti dipartimenti della Santa Sede, dalla Conferenza episcopale del Canada e da molte singole diocesi. Abbiamo anche lavorato a stretto contatto con il Servizio televisivo della Conferenza episcopale degli Stati Uniti, con Telepace e SAT2000 dell’Italia, con KTO francese, con il Centro per le comunicazioni dell’Arcidiocesi di Hong Kong, e con numerose reti televisive cattoliche e produzioni cinematrografiche cattoliche di tutto il mondo, nel corso della preparazione dei nostri programmi per il Canada.

Alcuni obiettano che esiste già EWTN, soprattutto per quanto riguarda il Nord America. Cosa contraddistingue in particolare la missione di Salt and Light Television?

P. Rosica: Madre Angelica e la sua ammirevole squadra altamente competente ha realizzato un qualcosa di grande per Dio e la Chiesa con EWTN. Tuttavia sappiamo che le urgenti necessità pastorali per l’educazione nella fede e nello spirito, nella storia e nella dottrina della Chiesa, sono talmente vaste che non potranno mai essere soddisfatte da un’unica organizzazione o agenzia. L’impegno di Salt and Light ci sembra complementare rispetto a quello di EWTN, nonché rispondente ad esigenze e complessità specifiche della Chiesa in Canada.

Alcuni dei nostri 30 collaboratori hanno lavorato con me nella GMG del 2002. Con loro sentiamo una speciale missione, da svolgere attraverso la Salt and Light Television, di raccontare la storia cattolica attraverso la prospettiva e gli occhi dei giovani. Questo è il cuore della nuova evangelizzazione: raccontare la storia antica in modo nuovo, fresco e dinamico. Per molti versi il Canada è un territorio di missione che richiede modi nuovi e dinamici per impegnare la gente nella fede.

Abbiamo avuto il privilegio, negli ultimi tre anni, di accogliere molti giovani provenienti da diversi Paesi, per collaborare per un periodo nei settori della cniematografia e della comunicazione. Giovani che ci sono stati indicati dalle Conferenze episcopali, dalle organizzazioni ecclesiastiche e dalle scuole di cinematografia del Canada e di altri Paesi. È stata un’esperienza che ci ha arricchito vicendevolmente e ci ha dato grandi benedizioni.

Ci vuole descrivere la programmazione delle 24 ore quotidiane della Salt and Light Television Network?

P. Rosica: Tutto ciò che facciamo ruota intorno ai cinque pilastri della rete televisiva Salt and Light: preghiera, devozione e meditazione; liturgia cattolica svolta in diverse lingue, cerimonie ed eventi del Vaticano; Educazione e approfondimento della fede per ogni età; esperienze di azione cattolica e solidarietà fatte in Canada e nel mondo; esperienze delle nostre comunità cattoliche; informazione e approfondimenti.

Stiamo producendo 14 programmi regolari nel nostro centro di Toronto, in inglese, francese e italiano, e a partire dal febbraio del prossimo anno anche nel dialetto cantonese per i cinesi. Abbiamo saltuariamente anche qualche programma in spagnolo, polacco e tedesco. Queste lingue corrispondono alle diversità culturali della Chiesa in Canada. Per la descrizione dei programmi si può vedere il nostro sito Internet su http://www.saltandlighttv.org/.

Salt and Light Television lavora anche a stretto contatto con le principali reti televisive del Canada per quanto riguarda il materiale di supporto e i contenuti sulle questioni cattoliche. Un’esigenza che si è resa particolarmente evidente nello scorso inverno, durante il periodo di transizione del Papato, e grazie alla quale sono stati instaurati legami assai necessari con i mezzi di comunicazione secolari.

Ci vuole parlare del vostro settore sui documentari che ha prodotto cose eccezionali?

P. Rosica: La sezione dei documentari di Salt and Light è specializzata nella vita dei santi e in altri racconti particolari del Cattolicesimo. Uno dei nostri primi documentari è stato girato in Colombia e Sud America sui giovani colombiani di Bogotá e Medellín che si sono impegnati a realizzare le piccole croci di legno utilizzate nella Giornata Mondiale della Gioventù del 2002 di Toronto. Questa storia di solidarietà intitolata “Learn from that Cross” (impara da quella croce) ha emozionato la gente di tutto il mondo, mantenendo viva la memoria della GMG 2002.

Il nostro documentario più noto è “Love is a Choice” (l’amore è una scelta) sulla vita di Santa Gianna Beretta Molla. Come è noto, abbiamo scelto questa nuova Santa come patrona della nostra rete televisiva. Noi viviamo in un’epoca in cui vi è un grande bisogno di avere un modello di donna, di madre, di matrimonio, di famiglia, di etica familiare e professionale, e tutto ciò si trova in Santa Gianna. Il marito della Santa, Pietro, e la sua famiglia, sono grandi amici miei e mi hanno chiesto se era possibile fare un documentario ufficiale sulla sua vita (la scorsa estate avevamo avuto il privilegio di accogliere la nipote di Santa Gianna Molla, Ortensia, tra i nostri stagisti). Il film su Santa Gianna è ora disponibile in inglese, francese, italiano, spagnolo e presto lo sarà anche in polacco, portoghese, arabo e cantonese.

Il nostro più recente documentario è stato premiato lo scorso settembre dal National Film Board Theater di Toronto. Dal titolo “Journey of Light: The Search for God in the Holy Land” (Viaggio di luce: la ricerca di Dio in Terra Santa), questo film di 47 minuti è stato girato in Israele e Palestina ed è un invito ad intraprendere il pellegrinaggio in Terra Santa. Esso è stato prodotto con la collaborazione di Sua Beatitudine Michel Sabbah, Patriarca latino di Gerusalemme, e documenta il viaggio di un gruppo di giovani cattolici in Terra Santa.

I nostri documentari sono disponibili nei formati VHS o DVD per il Nord America o per l’Europa al sito Internet https://saltandlighttv.org/shopping/index.php oppure chiamando lo 001-888-302-7181.

Sappiamo che il Papa Giovanni Paolo II ha avuto una grande influenza per lei, la sua vita e il suo lavoro. In che modo la vita e la visione di quel Papa continuano ad influenzare la sua vita e il lavoro della Salt and Light Television?

P. Rosica: Gran parte di ciò che faccio qui alla Salt and Light Television l’ho imparato dal Papa Giovanni Paolo II. Egli è stato un insegnante brillante e un modello di bontà e di umanità... un comunicatore saggio e un vero “Pontifex Massmediaticus”.

Non è un caso che l’ultimo documento di questo grande Papa riguardi il tema delle comunicazioni, poiché se mai nella Chiesa vi sia stato chi ha incarnato ed esemplificato la figura di un grande comunicatore, questo è stato Giovanni Paolo II. Nella Lettera apostolica “Il rapido sviluppo”, del 24 gennaio 2005, il Servo di Dio Giovanni Paolo II ci ha lasciato un testamento spirituale sulle comunicazioni.

Il Papa Giovanni Paolo II è stato molto felice di veder nascere questa televisione cattolica in Canada dopo la Giornata Mondiale della Gioventù del 2002, ed io ho avuto l’opportunità di incontrarlo in diverse occasioni tra il 2003 e il 2004 per condividere con lui gli sviluppi di questa rete televisiva. Ricordo che i suoi occhi si illuminavano!

Oggi preghiamo per lui e gli chiediamo di continuare a benedire questo progetto di nuova evangelizzazione. Sono sicuro che Santa Gianna Beretta Molla e il Papa Giovanni Paolo II faranno tutto ciò che è in loro potere per aiutarci a dare sostanza, profondità e bellezza alle parole, alle storie e alle immagini della Chiesa, attraverso lo strumento della televisione cattolica in Canada.

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Reflection for Friday July 22, 2005

St. Edith Stein and the White Rose Student Martyrs Under Nazism

Each World Youth Day offers blessed and saintly patrons- great heroes to the young people of the world who gather to celebrate their faith. Edith Stein, the Carmelite saint and co-patroness of Europe, is a very engaging figure for some of the 800,000 young people expected to attend World Youth Day next month in Germany.

The search for truth of Edith Stein – Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross in religious life – could be a stimulus for young people who will go to Cologne, where she lived in the Carmelite Monastery in that city. Stein was Jewish, German, a seeker who lost her faith and found it. Her continuity of life when she entered the Cologne Carmel is also very interesting, as it was not a rejection of the intellectual life but, on the contrary, an entering more intensely into contemplation, which isn't inaction. In fact, her superiors asked her to continue with her intellectual work and she did so, in union with the Church and the needs of the world.

The Carmelite nun was torched to death in the Auschwitz concentration camp on August 9, 1942. She accepted her death in the concentration camp as communion with the cross of Christ, for her people and for peace in the world.

I might also suggest some models of holiness for the Cologne WYD 2005 in the persons of the White Rose Martyrs – a group of Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic students of Munich who, in 1942, fought to defend the dignity of man and religion in face of Nazism. The Munich youths– Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie, Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, Kurt Huber– had understood that Nazism represented a great threat and opposed it clearly in six leaflets they wrote.

While at the University of Munich, this group of medical students was secretly writing and distributing the series of pamphlets calling for the end of the war. They shared an intense aversion and opposition to the Nazi regime and clearly took positions against the deportation of Jews. By the spring of 1942 they realized that action was necessary. They bought a typewriter, a duplicating machine, and stationery, and got to work. The leaflets, which they circulated in German cities and universities, were signed with a 'white rose.'

Because of danger, the White Rose members worked in complete secrecy. They kept their own families oblivious to their actions so as not to endanger them. The pamphlets were printed under cover of darkness in a basement. Even simply obtaining reams of paper or large quantities of stamps required extreme caution.

The end came on February 18, 1943. Hans and Sophie Scholl went to the university with a suitcase full of the latest pamphlet authored by their professor, Kurt Huber. While lectures were in session and the halls empty, they quickly distributed stacks on window sills, in front of doors, on staircases. About to head home, they realized that a few sheets remained and threw them from the stairwell railings down into the university courtyard. This ultimately proved to be a foolish gesture that cost many lives. As the sheets fluttered onto the floor, the janitor appeared, noticed the two and arrested them on the spot. After a few moments, the Gestapo arrived and took them away. Four days later, after a perfunctory trial before the People' s Court in Munich, they were beheaded.

Theirs were acts of incredible conscience and courage. They were youths rich in faith, with a profound ecumenical vision. Although they lived at a different time, they are of enormous importance. Many of their young peers associated with the group and also lost their lives. Our society is poor in Christian models; and we need figures who are an example of faith, hope and charity. These martyrs are real models of faith who have something to say to all our young people.

Although they actually accomplished little (obviously they had no realistic chance of accomplishing very much from the outset), the White Rose students serve as an example that not all Germans blindly went along with Hitler. That they failed was perhaps preordained; that they dared to try is a testament to their humanity.

May St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross and her young friends from Munich intercede for us and for the young people of the world during the great gathering in Cologne in August.

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Reflection for Tuesday July 19, 2005

Angels invite us to put on the lenses and mind of Christ

Several of our viewers have written and asked me to comment on the widespread use of angels in our day. They are concerned that the angels of their childhood piety have been transformed into consumer products and advertising gimmicks. “Angelmania” seems to have trivialized our devotion to the angels.

During these days of summer, allow me to offer some brief reflections on God’s winged friends. If the angels teach us anything, they show us what it means to put on the mind of Christ. What a great privilege is theirs to stand constantly in God's presence, to feast their eyes on Jesus, to know his face and even more, his mind. They look upon the world and on each of us with the mind of Christ. To truly love someone is not only to adore their face and their external reality, but to enter their mind and heart. We have not only been given the spirit, the love and the strength of Christ. We also have been given His mind.

Our minds as well as our emotions are to be trained to see and to judge the events of our day. That is why we are invited by the Scriptures and by the Church to discern the signs of the times, and why the early church swept over the Roman Empire, not only by out-loving and out-living the pagan world but by out-thinking it as well. The pagan world, today as in the past, is always happy to tolerate a church that neglects the Christian mind. Even dictators have been undisturbed by Christians who confined their activities to prayer and worship.

When we think of how the Christian Gospel inspired and shaped the civilization we have inherited, how it taught generations to look at the human drama through the lens of Christ, and inspired not only the glories of art, music, poetry and architecture but also the thinkers and theologians who swayed our destinies, then we must have a different vision of our religious heritage.

How often do we hear: "I don't want to look at the world through any lens at all, especially angelic ones: I want to look at the facts and let them speak for themselves." This is the great heresy of our times: the myth of objectivity -the belief that the factors of life around us need no interpretation. Anyone who brings some prior conviction into play is accused of ignoring or distorting the facts. But there is no such thing as a purely objective judgment. We all bring some lens through which to see the facts. We all have our lenses. But my plea is for the lens, the mind and the heart of Christ. The angels have much to teach us- they offer us ways of looking at Christ and at the world.

To talk about angels today is not merely okay, it is also therapeutic. The important thing is not the terminology but the realization that there are such powers of numinous strength and majesty, that can break in on humans. These powers stir the deepest and most awesome responses within us; they can destroy or upbuild, illumine or darken. Those who do not recognize them, who persistently refuse to admit their existence, have little chance to avoid the destructive powers in the human psyche and in the universe; they are unlikely to open themselves to the angelic, and to the Christ who wants to live within all humans. There are dimensions of life far deeper and more mysterious than most of us usually admit. Those who have the courage to open themselves to these biblical angels may come to know divine love more deeply. They may be able to reach deep into life and know its meaning more fully.

So much of the resurgence of angels today and this angel mania is pure sentimentality--devoid of any authentic spirituality. But some of it is not. Some it betrays our deep human longing for God, for whom our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. Could angel mania not reveal our quest for spirituality, our burning need to probe the deeper questions of hope and faith? Perhaps the angels are speaking to us once again, and teaching us what it means to desire God's presence. They are, after all, in a good position to do that.

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Reflection for Friday July 15, 2005

Becoming the People of the Beatitudes:
the Meaning of World Youth Days (part 1)

World Youth Days are celebrations of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Faith. At the welcoming ceremony of World Youth Day 2002, Pope John Paul II said: “With your gaze set firmly on him [Jesus], you will discover the path of forgiveness and reconciliation in a world often laid waste by violence and terror.” The person of Jesus Christ must be at the heart of our efforts with young adults. In order to be authentic believers, we must have a deep, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. How is Christ at the heart of our efforts with young people? What is distinctive and unique about being Catholic?

The principal elements of World Youth Days — Christ, Sacred Scripture, catechesis, the sacraments (especially Reconciliation and Eucharist), piety, devotion, the World Youth Day Cross, the saints, together with the moments of pilgrimage, the Youth Festival, social service projects, vocations—must find a central place in our pastoral efforts with young people.

  • Pope John Paul’s biblical theme for WYD 2002 was most appropriate for our society and world that are often steeped in mediocrity and darkness. “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14). What biblical stories and images animate our pastoral ministry with young people?
     
  • During WYD 2002 in Toronto, over 100,000 young people celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Through this sacrament Christ lets us meet him and brings out the best in us. In our pastoral work with young people, do we present this sacrament as a privileged encounter with Christ who heals, forgives and liberates us?
     
  • The preparations for WYD 2002 and 2005 offered the Church in Canada profound moments to deepen our Christian piety and devotion. As well, the historic, 43,000-km pilgrimage of the WYD Cross and the magnificent presentation of the Stations of the Cross were a provocative, profound witness of the Christian story in the heart of a modern city. How have we continued this tradition in our parish communities and youth activities? Do we acknowledge the need for solid, biblically rooted Christian piety and devotion in the lives of young people today?
     
  • During his pontificate, John Paul II proclaimed 1,338 blesseds and 482 saints. Young adults need heroes and heroines today, and the Pope gave us outstanding models of holiness and humanity. Nine young blesseds and saints were patrons of WYD 2002; several m